The Success Principles By Jack Canfield Book Review

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You guys, I don’t kid you when I say the Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be has absolutely changed me from the inside out, forever.

I saw Jack Canfield speak at the Idea World Convention in June, and although I wasn’t immediately hooked I was absolutely intrigued. It was during summer break from teaching (I’m an adjunct professor at a local community college) and I was anxious about my income. I knew it needed to pick up to cover the cushion that teaching supplied. I’m not sure how the idea got in my head but I decided to order his book on audible and listen to it while I walked Nala. No kidding, that was a life-changing decision.

By the time Mr. Hungry got home that day I had already also gone to Barnes and Noble to purchase a hard copy and completed the first few exercises in the book which centered around finding out what you really want, writing it all down, and setting goals. Things that I had desperately been afraid to explore, for the fear of failure or not being able to have them. I convinced Mr. Hungry to complete the exercises and that hour may have been the most valuable hour in our relationship to date.

The book covers 66 principles but here are a few of the ones that stood out to me the most:

He spoke about this in his lecture, and it was one of the principles that caught my attention the most. Take 100% responsibility for everything, things don’t just happen to you, they are created.

Whenever something isn’t going the way I want, I now I ask myself “how did you create this situation?”

2. Visualizing – using the Reticular Activating System (RAS)

I’m not a day-dreamer. In fact, I had explicitly written off day dreaming as a waste of time. The book presents hard, cold, indisputable evidence that people perform better when they visualize a task or goal first. I’ve now made this a regular part of my routine. If I want something, I take a second to close my eyes and visualize it.

3. Law of Attraction

A good reason against always assuming the worst case scenario. You attract back what you put into the world. That goes for attitude, thoughts, and beliefs about yourself and others. For example, the TV segments I landed were first come first serve. When I sent back the email instead of thinking “someone else probably got there already” I took a few quick seconds to visualize them announcing my name on Good Morning Arizona. 20 Minutes later the agency called and booked me for the spot.

4. Affirmations

On my phone, I have a list (all stolen from the book or I would share them here ) of affirmations. I repeat them 2-3 times a day. It helps keep me focused on what I’m asking for and working towards.

5. Stop Recreating the Same Experience

The craziest thing is doing the same thing over and over again and experiencing the same results.

For the last few months, I’d been doing the same thing over and over, with little progress. Hearing that made me realize that I had to try different things, not all of the things I would try would work, but some did and that is the important part.

6. Make Feedback A Ritual

Instead of getting upset when I get feedback, I now repeat to myself “this is not criticism this is feedback.”

I also now regularly ask for feedback.

For example, recently I was rejected from the propel program by the momentum ad network. Normally I would have thought “well that sucks I’m just not there yet.” This time, however, I asked for feedback. The representative was SUPER nice and said that one of their clients felt I didn’t have a strong enough social media presence. So, I leaned into it a little more (another principle from the book) and asked him if he could please be a little more specific. He, again, responded in a really helpful tone and courteous manner, it was amazing. This time, he told me he dug a little deeper and compared me to a site that had fewer page views and a lower totally social media following than me but was still accepted. The main difference he noticed was that they had a much larger facebook following than me. Instead of being upset, again I was delighted that now I knew where to focus my attention. Feedback is awesome!!!!

Reward Yourself

This one has been HUGE for me. In college, I would study super hard Sunday – Thursday and I would party just as hard on the weekends. While I don’t plan on going out to ragers anymore, I have remembered the importance of rewarding myself. I was trying to use the fact that I was pursuing my dream to own my own business as a reward. I was getting burned out and not taking the time to fully acknowledge my successes. Now, when something good happens, I celebrate with a glass of wine, get a pedicure, or a new article of clothing. I actually acknowledge my success and the little break drives me, even more, to keep going.

The Most Important 45 Minutes of the Day

My new bed time routine is as follows:

I acknowledge my successes at the end of every day while looking at myself in the mirror. This was SUPER weird at first, but every time I do it, it gets a little less weird.

I review my goals and plan for the successes of the future. , and make specific plans for what you want to accomplish. – unconscious programming.

I make specific plans for what I want to accomplish the next day. Including a to-do list and a run down of how I want the day to go. The thought process is that your unconscious mind will go to work while your sleeping to make sure that happens.

99% is a b*****, 100% is a breeze

100% commitment leaves no room for wasting energy on decision making. You can stop worrying about whatever it is and redirect that energy you would normally take to “decide to commit” elsewhere.

Appreciation and Gratitude

Gratitude journaling is one of the best practices to get more back from the world. It’s all about perception when your perception focuses on what you’re thankful for you will be happier and more successful. I made an evernote journal, where I keep the rest of my life.

Agreements

Keep a list of every agreement you make for one week like I did, it will totally change your thought process forever. You will think twice before you agree to do something or offer something by a certain deadline.

Paying Yourself First

This one was especially important for me to learn as a small business owner. If you are paying all your expenses before paying yourself then you may want to rethink your strategy.

Mastering the Spending Game

Don’t take any more loans out. STOP BORROWING MONEY. Mr. Hungry and I have 100% committed to this with the exception of a mortgage.

Pay off all debt you have with an aggressive plan, tackling the smallest debts first. Once one small debt is paid off redirect the payment you were making towards it to the next smallest debt.

Pay for everything in cash to help you budget better.

To spend more, first, make more. In fact, make twice more than you want to increase your expenditure by.

This book as totally changed my outlook and approach to being a business owner, entrepreneur, freelancer, wife, pet owner, pretty much everything. It has improved my positivity, made me appreciate the small things, and helped me redirect my attention to what is important.

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